Algebra Education Articles for Teachers
Standards vs.Curriculum: The Important Distinction
When the Common Core State Standards in mathematics were published, I was thrilled. Finally, here was a coherent, rigorous set of standards that provided a clear vision of mastery in the field. By outlining specific standards in this way, it gave me the ability to articulate insights and big idea...
Making Physics Fun
The great physicist, Richard Feynman, once compared the scientific method to watching the gods play a cosmic game of chess. Because we cannot participate, and don't know the rules, our only chance of figuring out the game is to watch and make generalizations. Feynman had a gift for communica...
Creating Open-ended Problems in Algebra
Most practice problems in your average algebra textbook follow a familiar pattern: they are generally one or two-step applications of the basic skill taught in the previous chapter, with the numbers shuffled around a bit. What they all have in common is that they are 'closed' problems. They have ...
Getting Students to Understand Why Learning Mathematical Concepts is Important
It came up again a few days ago, that question every teacher dreads and every student obsesses over, especially when having a hard time on a problem or assignment: "When will we ever use this, anyway?" It is an understandable question. Abstract concepts like quadratic curves and complex numb...